Restraint systems at front seats in motor vehicles equipped with a three-point seat belt that include a seat-belt tensioner not only at the shoulder belt portion, but also at the anchorage point of the lap-belt portion that is outwardly disposed in the vehicle transverse direction, achieve outstanding ratings in crash tests.
A seat-belt configuration of the aforementioned type is known from the German Patent Application DE 10 2008 057 124 A1 where, at the anchorage point thereof that is outwardly disposed in the vehicle transverse direction, the lap-belt portion of the seat belt has a belt deflector via which the lap-belt portion is routed to a seat-belt tensioning device in the area of a doorsill. In the case of the double tightening known from the German Patent Application DE 10 2008 057 124 A1, a knee contact with the dashboard is avoided, particularly in the event of a collision. The seat-belt tensioner configured in the doorsill can be pyrotechnically ignitable and, in the event of a collision, take up any seat-belt slack from the lap-belt portion and thus reduce a pelvis forward displacement of the vehicle occupant, and thereby positively influence the occupant kinematics. In the German Patent Application DE 10 2008 057 124 A1, the laterally outer anchorage point of the lap-belt portion is constituted of a belt deflector in the base region of the B-pillar. In this instance, the seat-belt tensioning device is configured upstream in the vehicle longitudinal direction toward the entry area and is concealed by a trim panel, which, in the door opening area, is a sill trim strip. The sill trim strip can be directly attached to the doorsill via a profiled retaining section.
Inevitably, however, such an additional seat-belt tensioner considerably increases the space required in the doorsill region, thereby making it necessary to reduce a required free space between the doorsill and a vehicle seat in the vehicle transverse direction.